As a number of catchment groups face an end to their funding over coming months, an advocate is hoping initial government enthusiasm for them will extend to continuing support for the groups.
Since 2022 the government has ploughed over $47 million into the groups throughout New Zealand, with some larger groups set to continue to receive funding through to 2026.
However, the majority are rapidly running out of time and cash, with June approaching as the month when funding is likely to stop.
Alison Dewes and John Burke are technical & restoration advisers to Western Bay of Plenty group Wai Kōkopu, covering 35,000 hectares of land that extends from Lakes Rotoiti and Rotoehu down to the heavily degraded Little Waihī Estuary at Pukehina, near Te Puke.
The group has worked with a range of horticultural, dairy, drystock and local Māori landowners across all sectors to provide a cohesive pathway for repairing waterways and looking into how to best optimise their systems given the multiple challenges facing farmers in the catchment.
“We know that by 2040 we will be facing around 0.3m of sea level rise along some areas of the Bay of Plenty coast, along with nearly double the hot days, and a significantly higher frequency of difficult weather,” Dewes said.
“That, coupled with changes to our landholdings, means it is good to plan ahead and take advantage of the good things that might arise as well.
“To do that, though, it’s important to be cognisant of the risks and opportunities that come with the natural characteristics of the land, if it is low lying, steep, erodible, and ask if the right land use is occuring in the right places on our farms.
“Moving forward, it is going to become a case of determining how we can fit alongside regional councils, compliment the on-farm advisory services in MPI and help reinforce the messages coming from industry, especially around emissions, welfare, and biodiversity enhancement.
“Nothing really has been cemented in yet, and there is a real risk we lose momentum with groups that are doing a lot of good from a farmer led level.”
Mandy Bell, the co-founder and chair of Wai Wanaka, said the final steps in forming a national Aotearoa NZ Catchment Community group are in play to give a more unified voice.
“This will mean we can take a shared message to Wellington, and back out of Wellington too.”
She said things are dependent upon how the government’s budget allowances play out, but there have been constructive discussion with government officials on the direct, connected role farmer-led catchment groups can play.
The Wai Kōkopu group modelled what was required to improve the estuary and slow the flow from the lakes to the sea. On the surface, it appears the catchment would require around 3000ha of erosion-prone land to change from pastoral to trees. It would take the reinstatement of around 900ha of wetland near the estuarine areas and 70km of riparian retirement area, with precise pest and weed control.
From 2025 the group intends to have a year-on-year scorecard of progress covering regulatory and market-driven performance indicators linking on-farm progress to catchment progress towards resilience for the future.
“Good things take time – especially when complex systems are involved,” Dewes said.
